Dream Disappointment

[Kajojato]

Arrived home 1st October 2019, after a very  tiring cruise on the Dream.  Cabin 1024, 10th Deck set back from  all other cabins but 1 metre away from GYM DOOR WHICH WAS  LEFT WIDE OPEN, from 8am until 9.30pm ,the noise of Weights dropping and other  equipment echoed,  and vibrated into the cabin all day long.   After  which  cleaning and maintenance by crew staggered from 10pm..... and at times 1am.. to 2am , with attendants arriving again  at 5am onwards. No response from reception, about closing the door and complaints, made... although the passengers did respond the crew did not.   Unable to get a decent sleep.  The crew vacuumed the stairs at 1.30pm between decks 9 and ten. then talked, sitting down on the stairs afterwards......  Whilst the cabin was comfortable, the noise was not.

On enquiring prior to booking I was told there were a number of Solo passengers.    I was  one. of three (other two were young men).  no facilities to engage with other passengers  were made.    very poor/none existent  service for single passengers. 

Whilst the Shows in the Broadway theatre were good.   The Bars catered for mainly families and couples, so was unable to socialise with others 

 

I found the Cocktails appalling. as did others , they consisted of 90% Mixing Ground ice. without taste, and served with a straw standing upright  like a stake on an iceberg.  The DREAM has to qualify for the worst Barmen...….. But the best in saving ingredients.

 

On the whole the ship was clean, tastefully decorated, but very noisy in all quarters,   Queuing was the norm., and disembarking during excursions was Chaos, on each deck, stairs with no form of control by  stewards. 

 

The Food was reasonably nice, but not much variety,

 

Overall this was a family oriented passenger list,  and entertainment was focused on the Loud, Noisy bars, which echoed through to the cabins and corridors,

 

A ship Ill give a miss. 

[Jim The Scot]

Disappointing to hear of your experience

 

Do you know who the resident band is as were away on the Dream on Tuesday?We were on her in June and the resident band was Muzic Unlimited but there contract was coming to end in September and the way they were talking they gave the impression it would not be renewed or at best they,d  be on a different ship.

[Kajojato]

Sorry,   Cant help there,     3 bands were: Trio band,    Tri-Vibe, ……..    2-Intense   Duo,...….. and  Luna Band,   But I never really watched them as all the seats were taken up or saved for friends.

 

Hope you have a good holiday.  

[Brummijam]

1 hour ago, Kajojato said:

Sorry,   Cant help there,     3 bands were: Trio band,    Tri-Vibe, ……..    2-Intense   Duo,...….. and  Luna Band,   But I never really watched them as all the seats were taken up or saved for friends.

 

Hope you have a good holiday.  

Hi Kajojato.

People can be so selfish regarding saving seats but the way I see it is everybody on the cruise has paid so they are entitled to a seat, that said they are not entitled to save four, five ,six or more seats for friends. When we are away and seats are scarce because people are saving them we just park our bums and let them do what they think they can do about it. Yes we get the looks and the comments but who is in the wrong?😏

  Also there are nearly always single seats available and the majority of people are welcoming to solo passengers who ask to use the seat.

 We did a back to back cruise on Dream last year and on our first excursion an elderly gentleman asked if he could join us exploring the destination, well he was great company and we met up on and off the ship over the following two weeks, we shared drinks and dinners and company, it certainly enhanced all of our holiday.

I have never travelled solo but I can imagine it must be daunting but just go for it.😉

Keep well.

[davecttr]

Sorry about bad experiences on the Dream. As a solo cruiser I have reserved one of the single cabins on a lower deck, preferably deck 5 as they tend to have less noise and vibration issues.

 

there were probably more than 3 solo passengers as some do their own thing and would not join in any social events anyway, plus there are others in the single cabins who are part of a lager party.

 

Marella have a generally good solo social programme but it does vary between ships and cruises. I have been on cruises where there were very few solo cruisers and eventually did my own thing. On other cruises it has been excellent. A lot depends on the social host. I find social hostesses much better than the men. On my last cruise we had a man and he was not really interested, contrast this with my previous cruise on the same ship where the hostess was good.

 

There are a lot of totally selfish cruisers out there, it is human nature

 

IMO Dream herself needs to be heading soon to that beach in India along with Celebration, don't travel solo on Celebration as the single cabins are ex crew accommodation back by the engines.

 

Some advice for solo cruisers, be bold and assert yourself, you will find a lot of friendly people aboard. On an excursion where you stop for lunch etc be off the coach soonest and into the restaurant and sit down, then the couples will have to ask you if they can sit down!

[brian1]

I found on E1 that there were lots of single spaces between couples that may be misconstrued as being reserved.It was simply because couples wouldn't budge up to the next couple.

[Jim The Scot]

16 hours ago, Kajojato said:

Sorry,   Cant help there,     3 bands were: Trio band,    Tri-Vibe, ……..    2-Intense   Duo,...….. and  Luna Band,   But I never really watched them as all the seats were taken up or saved for friends.

 

Hope you have a good holiday.  

 

Thanks Kajojato.We,ve seen 2 intense and Tri- vibe before

 

Its disappointing when you cant get a seat because they,ve been taken or saved.Seating tends to be at a premium on a full cruise.A few times we,ve found it  a case of getting there early eg Medusa,plonking yourself down and not moving again.Looks like our cruise is full so might try putting my towel over a chair in the Medusa 😉 😁

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, Jim The Scot said:

 

Thanks Kajojato.We,ve seen 2 intense and Tri- vibe before

 

Its disappointing when you cant get a seat because they,ve been taken or saved.Seating tends to be at a premium on a full cruise.A few times we,ve found it  a case of getting there early eg Medusa,plonking yourself down and not moving again.Looks like our cruise is full so might try putting my towel over a chair in the Medusa 😉 😁

Somebody tried that on Explorer in the Mediterranean bar. They put towels over the arms of chairs before breakfast and then sat there all day. After a couple of days they stopped, I guess someone senior had a word with them. A few days later I saw them again sneakily concealing towels between the cushion and chair arm and going off to breakfast. 

 

It will be theatre seats next!

[Pensioncruiser]

I would and have put up with it on deck but no way is that acceptable in the entertainment areas, different if someone is up dancing or getting a drink. Perhaps it's the future of cruising, hope not. 

[Jim The Scot]

44 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Somebody tried that on Explorer in the Mediterranean bar. They put towels over the arms of chairs before breakfast and then sat there all day. After a couple of days they stopped, I guess someone senior had a word with them. A few days later I saw them again sneakily concealing towels between the cushion and chair arm and going off to breakfast. 

 

It will be theatre seats next!

 

Really!

 

Almost unbelievable D

[miniyorkie]

  

Hi

Just off the Dream and I agree entirely about seating in the lounge areas. Impossible to move if you do manage to get a seat in any of the venues, but as the entertainment is different in each venue we never managed to see the Duo in Tides and only once managed to get a seat to see the Trio. Why do they use the largest venue Medusa for quizzes and "games" and put the other entertainment "groups" in Tides and the  the Water's Edge which are just not large enough. We had to endure the same music by Luna plus the quizzes as after evening meal in the MDR there was no alternative other than standing  (and we hate game shows LOL ). That issue plus the food was only tepid in MDR every evening were our only complaints.

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, miniyorkie said:

  

Hi

Just off the Dream and I agree entirely about seating in the lounge areas. Impossible to move if you do manage to get a seat in any of the venues, but as the entertainment is different in each venue we never managed to see the Duo in Tides and only once managed to get a seat to see the Trio. Why do they use the largest venue Medusa for quizzes and "games" and put the other entertainment "groups" in Tides and the  the Water's Edge which are just not large enough. We had to endure the same music by Luna plus the quizzes as after evening meal in the MDR there was no alternative other than standing  (and we hate game shows LOL ). That issue plus the food was only tepid in MDR every evening were our only complaints.

The Medusa Lounge is the 'Butlins lounge' and IMO keeping those quizzes and those 'game shows' in one place is a good idea, the problem is there are not enough seats in the other bars and lounges. Medusa also seems to be the venue of choice for bar flies and alcoholics. I had a free afternoon and decided to have a couple of pints in there. There was space at the bar, a rare occurrence so I sat down and ordered a pint. The group on my right, 2 couples, ordered 'large' bacardi and cokes. Their second round was 'go easy on the coke' and by the time I finished my second pint they were on their 4th round and it was large bacardis and don't bother with the coke. .I checked and they seemed to spend most of their time there. Wonder if they had livers!

 

Was the duo in waters edge called Tom and Maris? if so they used to be in the Horizon bar on Celebration, I thought they were very good indeed.

[Pensioncruiser]

Yes it is Tom & Maris. We had the same problem with drinkers on D2 a couple of weeks ago hope it's not the future of cruising on AI with Tui. 

[miniyorkie]

Hi Dave

Yes the Duo was Maris and someone but as we never managed a seat in Tides I didn't actually get to see if they were good, although they sounded ok as we wandered through, so I was slightly disappointed. Would have liked to have  seen more of Tri Vibe in Waters Edge but that was packed. Think the venue organisation was pretty poor tbh and hubby wont go on the Dream again for that reason.

[2BACRUISER]

6 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

We had the same problem with drinkers on D2 a couple of weeks ago hope it's not the future of cruising on AI with Tui. 

Sad to say that it might be by the posts I read on the various Marella FB groups, the bottom line is Marella/Tui need to fill their ships and they dont care who they fil them with. A lot of the Magafluff AI brigade seem to have caught on that the ships dont limit you like the hotels do so expect shall we say a more diverse clientele. 

[Brummijam]

To be fair I have never seen drunks on board any ship I have been on perhaps we have been lucky.

Regarding seats there are probably as many seats as passengers but the problem is that when a show ends in the theatre five hundred plus people move into the other venues looking for somewhere to sit and the theatre is empty until the next show.

All inclusive is now perhaps Marellas strongest selling point so nothing much will change on that front, I think it is going to be a case of "Other cruise lines are available"🤷🏻‍♂️

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Brummijam

[Pensioncruiser]

1 hour ago, miniyorkie said:

Hi Dave

Yes the Duo was Maris and someone but as we never managed a seat in Tides I didn't actually get to see if they were good, although they sounded ok as we wandered through, so I was slightly disappointed. Would have liked to have  seen more of Tri Vibe in Waters Edge but that was packed. Think the venue organisation was pretty poor tbh and hubby wont go on the Dream again for that reason.

To be honest I think it is the same in the Live room on the Discoveries, we did Dream earlier on this year and we love it but have been on her many times and know if want to be in a particular venue you have to be early which we do not mind doing, especially to see 2Intense who we have seen for the past ten years. OK this went wrong was intended for mininyorki must be an age thing. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Pensioncruiser

[brian1]

Can you get double spirits on Marella? Otherwise 4 drinks is not a great deal.

[oscarshep]

Hi Brian,

I`ve been getting doubles for many years on various Marella ships over the years and it`s never been questioned. It`s only an after dinner Drambuie I go large with. To be honest the spirit measures are generous anyway, in fact at some bars they pour too much. Some bars seem to use measures more in the evenings and are more `liberal` during the daytime.

I`m not sure why 4 drinks is not a great deal though regardless......it`s all free

[okavango]

3 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

Sad to say that it might be by the posts I read on the various Marella FB groups, the bottom line is Marella/Tui need to fill their ships and they dont care who they fil them with. A lot of the Magafluff AI brigade seem to have caught on that the ships dont limit you like the hotels do so expect shall we say a more diverse clientele. 

How could Marella or indeed any cruisline vet all the passengers at time of booking and refuse the undesirables , luckily the undesirables are usually not too numerous and i dont see evidence the totally AI set up has changed things much , the idiots were always on AI before

[2BACRUISER]

19 minutes ago, okavango said:

How could Marella or indeed any cruisline vet all the passengers at time of booking and refuse the undesirables , luckily the undesirables are usually not too numerous and i dont see evidence the totally AI set up has changed things much , the idiots were always on AI before

That's the thing no company can vet who it sells to. Marella was our first experience of AI. We've always felt we never drank enough to warrant the extra cost of it so always had HB or B&B. AI is great if you get your monies worth and as another poster said other cruise lines are available and considerably cheaper than Marella with offers of OBC and or  free grats and or free drinks packages if you look. 

[brian1]

38 minutes ago, oscarshep said:

Hi Brian,

I`ve been getting doubles for many years on various Marella ships over the years and it`s never been questioned. It`s only an after dinner Drambuie I go large with. To be honest the spirit measures are generous anyway, in fact at some bars they pour too much. Some bars seem to use measures more in the evenings and are more `liberal` during the daytime.

I`m not sure why 4 drinks is not a great deal though regardless......it`s all free

Cheers,on E1 recently my Mrs was getting a generous free pour of vodka in the evening.I didn't see her starting any punch-ups though,lol.My point was people are being called alcoholics after 4 doubles.

[nancyneptune]

6 hours ago, davecttr said:

The Medusa Lounge is the 'Butlins lounge' and IMO keeping those quizzes and those 'game shows' in one place is a good idea, the problem is there are not enough seats in the other bars and lounges. Medusa also seems to be the venue of choice for bar flies and alcoholics. I had a free afternoon and decided to have a couple of pints in there. There was space at the bar, a rare occurrence so I sat down and ordered a pint. The group on my right, 2 couples, ordered 'large' bacardi and cokes. Their second round was 'go easy on the coke' and by the time I finished my second pint they were on their 4th round and it was large bacardis and don't bother with the coke. .I checked and they seemed to spend most of their time there. Wonder if they had livers!

 

Was the duo in waters edge called Tom and Maris? if so they used to be in the Horizon bar on Celebration, I thought they were very good indeed.

 

 

The " Butlins Lounge"......describes it to a T Dave. 

 

If there is a good group in the lounge we will sit and enjoy a drink  but as soon as the game shows or quizzes start we head off to another venue, but find getting a seat almost impossible at times.

 

After a days sightseeing it's nice just to sit and listen to a talented duo or trio over a drink or two and have a conversation with other guests during their break. 

 

Recently read on another cruise forum a comment from a lady who had just returned from her first Marella cruise. " Some of the clientele leave a lot to be desired ".....her words not mine but I know what she means.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nancyneptune]

2 hours ago, oscarshep said:

Hi Brian,

I`ve been getting doubles for many years on various Marella ships over the years and it`s never been questioned. It`s only an after dinner Drambuie I go large with. To be honest the spirit measures are generous anyway, in fact at some bars they pour too much. Some bars seem to use measures more in the evenings and are more `liberal` during the daytime.

I`m not sure why 4 drinks is not a great deal though regardless......it`s all free

 

Four doubles in a short space of time.....they may also have been drinking all day.  Their choice and as long as they remain merry no problem. It's when they start to get argumentative and rude to bar staff who are probably to frightened to tell them they have had enough that the problem arises. 

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, brian1 said:

Can you get double spirits on Marella? Otherwise 4 drinks is not a great deal.

before the free AI but they seemed to have an understanding with the bar man